The Varden Hotel — Hotel in Long Beach

I had a hotel malfunction at the Long Beach Hilton during a week of conventions and the only reasonable room rate found was at the Varden. As the alternative was a $ 300+ room at the Hyatt (which I stayed at before and did not like) I decided to give the Varden a try, especially as it was described as a "european-style boutique hotel" so as a European I wanted to test it first hand. The Varden is a nice unique place. First and foremost it is absolutely clean, which is not a given today even at high-priced hotels. It is modern, again something you do not find everywhere these days. And it is kind of unique. Size-wise it reminds me a bit of the Incheon Airport Transit Hotel at the Seoul airport, just with a bit more flair. The room I am in is small, if you have need for a larger size desk to work on you're out of luck, there is only a small workspace area that fits a notebook size computer and not a lot more. But you can work very comfortably on the bed (that is where I am typing this review as we speak). So if you want to stay for a few days and do not plan to spend a lot of time in your room anyway, this hotel is highly recommended. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful. I came in early in the morning, and dropped off my luggage as I had to run to a convention - when I came back in the evening my room was ready and my luggage was upstairs waiting for me. Again, the bed is extremely comfortable. I am in a room close to Pacific Avenue, and there is some street noise, but it is bearable. One negative point for me is the shower. I am 6' and 270 lbs, and that makes maneuvering around in the shower a challenge. The shower is about 3' x 3' so there is really not a lot of space to move around in. The other issue is that it is a bit off the beaten path, and I did not feel real comfortable to walk some of the streets I had to walk on at midnight. If you're farther away, take a cab, they're not too expensive. So to recap, it is a different type of hotel, refreshingly different, though - you feel as if you live a bit of an alternative lifestyle to the major brand hotels. And you feel genuinely welcomed, a nice change to the brand name hotels where the "we love to have you" always feels as if it is taken straight from the manual. PS: I forgot to mention that they have a little wine bar from 5-7 pm in their "living room", a nice chance to meet some interesting people in a nice relaxed setting. And they offer a continental breakfast in the morning which I will report on tomrrow after I tried it for...

My partner and I tried to reserve a room here and had an unacceptable experience. We made online reservation 2 months in advance of our desired arrival. A month later, our application was still blowing in the wind.   When I reached out to check on the status, Larry was annoyed and tried to rush me off the phone. Weeks before our requested reservation date, the manager, Larry, would not pick up the phone  or respond to emails to provide a status update. Even after complying and submitting all requested documentation, both my calls and my partners calls would go unanswered. Believing I was being intentionally ignored, I had a friend call. Not to my surprise, Larry answered her call and told her there were available units! When I called immediately after, he would not answer. I literally had to call from my friend's phone just to get this person to flatly and incorrectly critique my application while also reiterating that "we get hundreds of other applications." I was really excited to stay here but I was mistaken and treated poorly. So sadly, after over a month of unprofessionalism I would NEVER recommend The Varden...

Interesting hotel, and the layout of the rooms makes a lot out of a little space. The rooms are very clean, the staff is very attentive, and the location is great. They also have modern ductless AC units for heating and cooling. I stayed here while attending a conference at the Long Beach Convention center. It's about a 10-15min walk to the convention center, and I was able to figure out where I would eat lunch by taking a leisurely walk to the convention center. The rooms are small, but for one person it was perfect and I liked how they designed the rooms not to feel small. The building is old, and because of that there are more noises than a new hotel (water flowing, floors creaking). The noise was not too loud, but a sensitive sleeper might have a problem. The breakfast in the morning is simple: yogurt, juice, coffee, pastries, and oatmeal, but the Colonial Bakery is right next door and they have fresh cooked bacon and eggs. I'm glad I stayed here, and I...